Saturday, October 15, 2005

Madness_2005

The college basketball season has begun! 

My daughter and I had a great time last night at Midnight Madness.  We got there about 9pm when the doors opened, and that was far too late to get a good seat.  By the time we waited in line to enter the Assembly Hall, the only seats available were halfway up in C section.  Still better than my usual seat in the very top row behind a hoop.  :-)

This was my first time attending this event, but I hope to be there every year in the future.  It was certainly a fun party, and it provides a unique look at the team.

The turnout was great.  I think the attendance figure was around 13,500.  Earlier in the day I had heard that the local TV station was televising the event, so I was worried about how that might affect attendance.  Coach Weber apparently had several recruits visiting, so it seemed important for the community to show those guests just how enthusiastically we support Illinois basketball.  I think the message was delivered effectively.  The Hall was very loud and very orange, just as it should be, and the Krush section was actually chanting names of the recruits.

I took a bunch of photos and posted the decent ones.  It's pretty tough to get good pictures indoors from so far away, but some of these came out okay.

Mr. Blue Hands was there, quite prominent.

They raised the banner for the Final Four appearance last season.

Player notes:

• I think Trent Meacham is going to be a fine addition to the team.
• Rich McBride looked impressive.  He nearly won the 3-point shooting contest, but Dee prevailed in the end.  During the scrimmage, I saw him drop a trey from way, way behind the line.  Anyway, I think some folks were disappointed in McBride's performance last season, so it would be great to see him have a good year.
• Apparently Brock skipped a class last week so Coach Weber punished him by not letting him play in the scrimmage game.  :-)
• Brian Randle looks scary.  The guy has spent some serious time in the weight room.  I guess he's still not what anyone would call a shooter, but he's incredibly athletic and is going to be throwing down a lot of dunks fed by Dee this winter.
• I know Dee was disappointed by the injury over the summer which prevented him from participating in the NBA draft, but it's great to have him back for his senior year.  And not just because we'll win more games with him on the team -- he's just a lot of fun to watch.

I'm not expecting this year to match the 37-2 record of last season, but I'm optimistic.  We've got a great coach, some great returning talent and some guys who are going to surprise a lot of people.